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Cerebral Palsy Scotland

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Growth spurts and promoting independence

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  • Nursery and school years
  • Growth spurts and independence
  • Daily care
  • Nursery and school years
  • Growth spurts and independence
Growth spurts and promoting independence

From the ages of about zero to three children’s bodies and brains grow quickly. This is the best time to receive intensive therapy as the brain is ready to learn and will remember good movement patterns that are practised.

Growing pain for children with CP

It’s normal for bones to grow faster than muscles during growth spurts. This is where growing pains come from. In children who don’t have CP, their muscles will eventually catch up in length. Spasticity (tightness) makes this much harder for kids who do have CP, and those muscles are stiffer, difficult to control and harder to move through a usual range of movement. During a growth spurt, it’s common for the muscle to become even tighter. For example, it may become more pronounced that a child is walking on their toes as the Achilles tendon becomes increasingly tight.

The importance of staying active

Contracture means shortening of the muscle. A child is at risk of developing a contracture if a muscle is so stiff it can’t stretch. Contractures can be very painful and eventually can cause deformities.

It is so important to keep muscles as flexible as possible. Staying active and regularly practising exercises provided by your physiotherapist are great ways to keep muscles moving. If you are worried that any muscle group is getting stiffer as a result of a growth spurt, don’t delay in raising it with your physiotherapist.

Energy Levels

As children grow and become heavier the muscles have to work harder. Standing and walking may become more effortful for a child. As they grow up they may need different types of mobility aid. For example, to negotiate the long corridors and walks between classes at secondary school, it might be beneficial for a child to use their wheelchair and save walking for classroom-based activities.

Promoting independence

As young people hit the teenage years it’s natural for them to want more independence and privacy. A person with cerebral palsy is no different from anyone else when it comes to wanting to make decisions and living more independently, including going to college or university, getting a job, or moving out of home (either completely independently or with appropriate help and support).

Helping a child develop from dependence to independence is a long process, starting in the early years. For a child with CP, various therapies will aim to maximize abilities in communication, mobility and function inside and outside the home.

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Latest News

Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2025
Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2025

Between January-March 2025, Cerebral Palsy Scotland ran a survey to get insight into the key challenges facing the cerebral palsy community, as well as... Read more

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More children to get a Bright Beginning, thanks to National Lottery
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We are delighted to announce that Cerebral Palsy Scotland will receive £164,194 from The National Lottery Community Fund to provide specialist therapy... Read more

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Find out how we’ve made an impact in 2023-24
Find out how we’ve made an impact in 2023-24

Our latest Annual Review shows how Cerebral Palsy Scotland has made a difference to the lives of children and adults with cerebral palsy over the past... Read more

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Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto
Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto

With the general election to be held on 4 July, Cerebral Palsy Scotland is calling on candidates to pledge to improve services for people with cerebral... Read more

Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto

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Cerebral Palsy Scotland
Bradbury House
10 High Craighall Road
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t: 0141 352 5000
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info@cpscot.org.uk
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